


Calm Before the Storm (Original Work)

by AuthenticSouthern



Series: The Daring Tales of Darby Goodson (Original Work) [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 16:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16519949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuthenticSouthern/pseuds/AuthenticSouthern
Summary: Before Darby Goodson is unwillingly thrown into adventuring, we look into her life before the chaos.





	Calm Before the Storm (Original Work)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We join Darby this evening as she entertains a less than enthusiastic crowd before reuniting with her best friend.

The bard peered into her upturned hat, suppressing a frown as she continued to sing. Not a single coin gleamed back at her. This town had been more disappointing each passing night. Still, she had a reputation to build and she would be damned if she would leave in less than five day's time.

Her nimble fingers masterfully plucked her lute as she sang a familiar melody. Keep it simple for a simple crowd, she decided. She judged her crowd silently behind the mask of a cheeky grin. Most of the tavern goers were drunk or passed out, the few that weren't had little coin to spare for the talented bard. Her only hope was the drunkard who had been winking at her all night - he was too old and too fat, but she suspected he could afford to tip her a couple silver. At least. The man currently had his oily chin rested on his hand as he stared dreamily at her. She glanced his way, her smile widening slightly to acknowledge his attention.

As her song crescendoed, she swayed to the quickening beat and tapped a foot to keep time. To the amusement of no one but herself, she substitued elven words for some of the lyrics. The foreign tongue came easily to her now and she nimbly danced between the two languages. The crowd seemed to disappear as she fell into a familiar high. She gripped her lute, fingers now flying across. She stopped tapping her foot, not able to keep up nearly as quickly as her hands and lips did. The song grew faster and her voice rang out clearly as she hit the finale. As she completed her performance, she bowed deeply as a few folks clapped politely.

At the back of the room, a loud whistle rang as someone clapped thunderous applause. As she raised her head from her bow, she grinned upon seeing a familiar half-orc, his feet propped up on the table before him.

"Thank you, thank you," She said with bravado above and beyond the meager reception of the crowd. 

"Darby Goodson," She reminded them, pointing proudly at herself. "The best bard this side of Faêrun!"

She retrieved her hat from it's resting place and held it hopefully before the oily drunkard.

"Oh!" The man said in surprise. "Yes, hold on..." He sloppily reached into a coin purse to produce a couple copper, which he put into her hat with a grin.

"Ah," She said, offering a forced grin. "Thank you, darling."

"Y'know..." The man said slowly as he drunkenly stumbled through his words. "I'm stayin' here at th' inn... So if yer inter- interested..."

"I'm flattered," She lied cooly, batting her eyelashes at the man. "But I've got company." She gestured to her orcish guest at the back of the room.

The oily man looked back and blinked. "Oh," He said in disgust.

She didn't wait for him to say more. Putting the coppers into her purse, she slipped her feathered cap back on and made her way towards the back of the tavern. 

"That was great!" The half-orc stood, opening his arms as she approached.

"Brax! I didn't know you'd be here tonight!" She exclaimed, grinning wildly as she met his hug.

His hulking figure engulfed her small frame as he wrapped her in a big bear hug, lifting her off her feet. He held her tightly for a moment before letting her down and she took a seat beside him.

"I thought you were coming in tomorrow," She continued, motioning to the bartender for another drink. "How are you? How are things?"

"Good, good," He said, leaning back in his chair. "The usual - lots of merc jobs lately."

"You've got to wait for _me_ on some of those jobs," She scolded gently. "You can't heal yourself."

"Not very well at least," He chuckled. 

Darby eyed her friend, noting a few more scars with disapproval. As a general rule, Brax never covered his chest. Arm bands, shoulder pads, gloves - all were acceptable, but he disliked covering the large diagonal scar that ran the length of his torso. Hence, he kept his ruddy green chest bare at all times.

"You're going to get yourself killed," Darby said softly.

Brax nodded sagely, "Maybe."

The cute redheaded server approached, two large mugs of ale in her hand. "Here you are, miss," She said curtly as she set one down in front of Darby. With a questioning look in her eye, she looked at the two before setting the second drink before Brax.

"Thank you," Brax said, sitting up a little straighter in his seat.

"Let me know if you need anything else," She replied before turning back towards the bar.

Darby noticed his eyes lingering on the server as she walked away. She rolled her eyes and took a long drink of ale.

"You think she's into tusks?" Darby said slyly into her mug.

"I think so," He grinned, turning his attention back to his friend.

Before Darby could give a witty retort, a hand slapped down onto the table beside her. "Tusks! Bah!" The oily drunkard had apparently grown bored of his seat near the stage.

"Bloody hell," Darby said, cringing at his foul breath. She moved away from him as best she could. 

Brax's grin was frozen in place as he eyed the man with stoic caution. "Sir," He said calmly, "I think you've had one too many. Why don't you lay down and sleep it off?"

"Sleep it off?" The drunkard looked to Brax with heavy eyelids. "Aye, _half-breed_ , maybe I'll sleep it off with this one, huh?"

He wrapped a large, meaty hand around Darby's shoulder and pulled her in tight.

The bard pushed against his chest to no avail, " _What the fu--!_ " Darby began, her voice raising in anger. "You bastard," She snarled, more offended at the man's words than his deed, "Don't call him that!"

Brax leapt out of his seat, brow furrowed fiercely, "Let her go. I'll warn you once," He growled to the man, his hands reaching towards the axe strapped across his back.

It was then that the redheaded server ran up to the orc, "Wait! Stop!" She cried. "There'll be no fighting in here!"

The drunkard turned to the girl, "It's fine, wench."

With the distraction, Darby took the opportunity to bring her knee sharply into the man's groin. As he cried out in pain, he released her. Before he could stable himself, she pulled her hand back and slapped him squarely across the face.

In an instant, Brax was at her side, pulling the young woman away from the drunk. "Darby, that's enough," He said gruffly, lifting her off her feet with ease.

"Keep th' bitch then," The drunkard spat at their feet, clutching himself.

"Alright, alright," The server shooed the drunk man away, "That's enough of that. Go sit back down, Simon, and sober up a bit."

The man shuffled away, muttering angrily under his breath.

"You can let me down now," Darby said angrily to Brax, who still held her off her feet. She made no moves to resist, knowing the half-orc could easily out maneuver her.

"You good?" Brax asked cautiously, unwilling to let her go if she was just going to storm after the man. Which was a possibility. 

"Yes."

He felt her muscles relax a bit and took it as a good sign. Gently, he let her down to her feet and turned to face her. "Your temper is going to get you in trouble," He noted. "I hope you don't mouth off like that when I'm not here..." His voice trailed off, before he could say _to protect you_. They both knew what he meant.

The redheaded woman glared at them, hands on her hips. "Are you two quite done?"

"Ah," Darby said as she brushed herself off. "Yes, I believe so."

"I apologize, Miss," Brax said to the woman. "We didn't mean to cause any trouble. I just can't stand it when someone speaks to my sister that way."

"Sister?" She asked curiously, her interest piqued.

Darby rolled her eyes, knowing his intentions full well once the sister line was dropped. It was a quick way to easily define the boundaries of their relationship to other women.

"Oh, well of course," Brax said cooly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. It wasn't _entirely_ untrue... From a certain point of view.

"Half sister, of course," Darby added with a sly grin. "Although we have the same eyes."

The redhead blinked, "Oh, of course." She seemed to relax slightly before offering Brax a sweet smile. "Well, er, can I get you another drink?"

"That would be lovely, Miss," Brax drawled. He sat back down and looked expectantly at Darby.

As far as men go, Brax certainly wasn't unattractive by any stretch of the imagination. Half-orc or not, he was an impressive man. It wasn't just his height and formidable physique. Any other man could have those features. With Brax, there was something special - something different. There was an aura that drew people to him. 

"You know," The bard said slowly, "I think I'm done for the night. I'll meet you back here for breakfast?"

Brax grinned, "Sounds good to me. Sleep well."

"Yes," Darby said, looking to the server's back as she retrieved another ale. "Sleep well, _brother_."

**Author's Note:**

> In playing our Dungeons and Dragons campaign (homebrew 4e with a few 5e elements thrown in for fun), I decided I would write my character's prequel. Who was she before the adventure started? I wanted to delve into her recent history as well as her childhood in an attempt to further her character and motivations. At some point in time, I may come back and clean this chapter up - it was written in haste.


End file.
